The Marsh Madness

“Bear with me, boy,” he said, plunking himself on the bed.

Walter was making his snuffling noises. He’s very fond of Tyler Dekker, not having fully grasped what a total traitor and jerk he’d turned into.

Lucky for us fugitive felons, Cobain was making quite a racket whining and barking. It was enough to drown out Walter’s snuffling and my pounding heart.

Of course, Cobain was trying to tell Tyler that we were under the bed, but, smart as he was, Smiley didn’t speak dog as well as I did.

“Be a good guy and settle down, boy. I’ve got a call to make.”

Cobain did not settle, but we did. Turned out Smiley was checking in with Castellano. She had news for him.

He said, “So the girl has been identified as Shelby Church? . . . For sure? . . . Oh. The parents . . . Right. That’s that, then . . . I did follow up on that tip as you requested, and it seems that Shelby Church was last seen at an art installation thing in Grandville, last night. According to a witness, the artist whose work was on display, Poppy Lockwood-Jones, the victim was accosted by a weirdly attractive blond woman who chased her out the fire exit. No one saw much after that because the alarms went off and that caused some chaos. Martinis were spilt and some caviar was lost. There were quite a few critical remarks about the blonde’s outfit . . . No, ma’am, I’m not trying to be funny. I’m reporting back.

“We confirmed that the librarian, Lance DeWitt, was also there, asking about Shelby. He left before she did. That’s right. Shelby was spotted running from the gallery and jumping into a Lexus SUV and leaving the scene. Lance DeWitt and the blonde were seen pursuing the Lexus in a BMW . . . No one got a plate from either vehicle. They were both muddy, apparently.

“Yes, we were able to collect CCTV footage from the area.

“It appears that the same BMW, with DeWitt and the blonde, was seen in the vicinity of Shelby Church’s parents’ house at 41 Belleville Crescent in Grandville at around eleven last night. We’re canvassing door-to-door in the neighborhood, and we’ve learned that the BMW was joined by a Lincoln Navigator driven by a burly redheaded man in his fifties.

“At seven this morning, I went by with a photo of Michael Kelly, and at least one witness is certain it was him. Sorry? . . . No, it was definitely not Kevin Kelly, ma’am. I had pictures of both of them. Then the librarian and the large guy left with the Beamer and the blonde drove away in the Navigator. She may have had a small dog with her. The neighbors notice things like that, but they didn’t get any license plate numbers.

“The Navigator was observed by an avid birdwatcher living on the next street over. It was parked there all night. There is no reliable description of the woman in it. But several robins were seen, and there was talk of an early scarlet tanager.

“Sorry, ma’am, I do know this is a serious business . . . Yes, I realize that you are taking a chance on me as an investigator . . . No, I won’t screw up. So to continue, we’re not sure how Michael Kelly was involved with Shelby, but he seemed to be aiding DeWitt and the blonde. As far as the timing goes, they had left Belleview Crescent in plenty of time to have killed Shelby Church. But if you don’t mind me saying so, ma’am, I find it hard to believe that either of—Sorry, ma’am . . . Right, I’ll keep an open mind.

“Both Michael Kelly and Lance DeWitt are in custody. Kelly’s asked for his lawyer. We’re letting them cool their heels.